Fiber-mixing machine



J. A. BUTLER.

FIBER NHXING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AuGAs. 1918.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

.m H. H. w ml mn w n m w W H H M w m mn J. A. BUTLER.

FIBER MIXING MACHINE.

APPLlc/ITION FILED AUG.19, 1918.

1,359,029. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2v.

JAMES A. BUTLER, OF NEEDHAIVI, MASSACHUSETTS.

FIBER-MIXING MACHINE.

Application filed August 19, 1918.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES A. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Needham, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved F iber-Mixing Machine, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

This invention has reference to an improved machine for mixing wool, cotton, shoddy and other fibrous materials in definite predetermined proportions.

Oneobject of the invention is to so construct a machine for mixing wool, cotton, shoddy and other natural or artificial fibrous materials that the relative feeding value of components of the machine may be determined or calibrated for future use whereby,

thereafter, the setting of elements of thel machine, following arbitrary rules, may result in producing a mixture or blend *substantially as predetermined by such calibration.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine ofthe nature described in which the various kinds of material are delivered to a carrier apron or device in a manner to effect a considerable mixing of the same.

@ther objects of the invention will appear from the following description.

The invention consists in the machine the feed aprons or devices and the means adjustably mounted 'in graduated holding devices to control or govern the supply of various materials to various parts of said feed aprons.

The invention also consists in the means for'feeding forward in opposite directions various proportions of different fibrous materials, combined with mechanism for effec-ting a partial blending of such materials.

The invention also .consists in such othernovel features of construction and combination of parts as shall hereinafter be more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1, represents a cross sectional view of on line 1-1 Fig. 2. I

Fig. 2, represents a plan view` of the 1m- Specicaton of Letters Patent.

.ends of the pins or hooks Vwardly on the reaches of thel improved mixing machine as taken Patented N ov..16, 1920. Serial No. 250,479.

proved machine showing justment of ments.

Similar characters of reference corresponding' parts throughout.

n carrying this invention into practice it has been my object to provide a machine having a pair of mechanisms feeding in opposite directions at a constant rate of delivery, said machine having measuring devices adapted to be calibrated under definite formulae whereby the adjustment of said measuring elements per formula, with the supply of materials under said formula, will result in obtaining substantially similar blends or mixtures of said materials.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings 5 and 6 represent a pair of feeding machines arranged in parallel relation and spaced apart sufficiently to permit the placing therebetween of the feed apron or means 7. The machines 5 and 6 an arbitrary adcertain of the measuring eledesignate Yare similar in construction having the end Vdistances and indicating arbitrary measurements along the frames 8 and 9.

Frames 8 and 9 have bearings in which are journaled pairs of rolls 13, 13 on which are mounted the feed aprons 14 extending approximately horizontally and operated in any known manner to carry material placed on the upper reaches of said aprons 14 toward the vertical lifting aprons 15 against which aprons 15 the front ends of aprons 14 approximately abut. Aprons 15 have pins or hooks 1G, 16 adapted to engage material, brought to suitable position, and said aprons 15 are carried by pairs of rolls 17, 17 which are driven in the usual manner whereby the 16 will extend upaprons 15 traveling upward, thereby engaging and carrying upward material which material will to some extent be released by said pins or hooks 16 as they become inverted after passing, with aprons 15, over the upper of said rolls 17, 17.

receptacle between the end chines and 6 are rotatably mounted the" rolls 19 having the stripper blades or members 20 adapted, when said rolls.19 are driven in the ordinary manner, to strip material trom the inverted hooks or pins 16.

1t is tobe noticed that the 'trough or way in which apron 7 travels is deiined by the side members 21 and that between such members and the machines 5 and 6 are the receptacles 22 which may iiorm part ot said machines and are in position substantially below the strippers 19, 20. rlhese receptacles 22 are or may be approximately concave in cross section and rotatably mounted therein are the rolls 23 having dasher blades 2e which are adapted to receive a large portion of the material stripped by the stripper rolls 19 from the pins 16 o'l aprons 15 as such material falls toward the receptacles 22. rlhese rolls 23 are driven, in any usual manner, in the directions indicated by their respective arrows whereby the fibrous material falling thereon or drawn forward by the blades 2a of said rolls 23, trom receptacles 22, will be thrown or dashed over the wall members 21 onto the apron 7 by movement in a direction transverse with relation to the said apron, so as to be distributed across the width of the latter, and will become mixed in such movement and, by, said apron 7, will be carried to the mixing picker lvl of any lniown construction.

In order approximately to measure the amount o'li fiber olf various kinds to be fed to rolls 19 by aprons 15 the receptacles constitiited by the walls of the machine and the 45 "aprons 15 are divided into compartments by the partition members which are suitably braced to increase their strength and, in shape, conform approximately to the cross sectional shapeot the said receptacle and approach quite closely to said apron 15. At their upper portions said partition members 25 have the openings 26 to receive the shafts of pickers 18 whereby these portions of the members 25 may be received and held from lateral movement between the pairs oi' collars 27 adjustably secured by means of their set screws on the shafts of said pickers 18. Said partitions 25 have also the rearwardly extending members 2S wl ich are removably engaged with the slots 12 or other graduated holding means.

lt is to be assumed that the speed of both of the aprons 111 and 15 is constant and that if such speed is changed the caliber of the fiber fed forward is ascertained with relathe members tion to such change of speed; that is the space to be occupied, transversely of either apron 15, by any particular lrind of liber is calibrated with reference to the speed oi said aprons 15. Such calibration is effected by dividing the combined width ot both apronsV 15 into sections proportional to the several percentages of ingredients to be used inA making the mixture. rlhisV division of the width ot both said aprons 15 is effected by the partition members 25 which are placed in accordance 'with a previously asw certained formula, the carrying out of which is assisted by the graduated slots or indicating devices 12, 12.

The weights oi the va zious ingredients toY be mixed are determined by the percentages designated for any particular material, and the space of thebelts 15 to be occupied by any one of these ingredients is determined by the formula S L PC POa-PlClJfPZCZ-t in which Y.

Lztotal width'o' feeding Ysurface which in the standard machine is 12 feet.

Szspace occupied by any ingredient such as wool.

Pzpercentaee et' the same ingredient ac-V n D cording to the merchandise formula.

@za constant, for the same ingredient, which is derived by Calibrating the machine for that ingredient.

The constant, C, per unit of time for any ingredient used in the mixture. T his is determined by assuming a definite speed 'for the machine, setting 25 so as to form a space three is the feet per pounds feet wide, ruiming Yone ingredient with the hopper at even height for 20 minutes or more and weighingy up the amount of this ingredient which the machine delivers. For instance, if we wish to calibrate for wool we set our division plates or members 25 in. any section of the machine at 3 feet spacing,

and, on operating the machine 2O minutes, we find that we may have delivered and taken away from the apron 16@ pounds of stock, or eight pounds per minute in three ootlwidth, that is 0.375 foot per pound.

The Calibrating test, when once niade, shouldbe suthcient as long as the physical properties o any particular stoclrv remain the same, but care must be exercised that for every ingredient, data for the constant Vmust be obtained with the machine ruiming iio at same R. l). M., since decrease or increase in the speed of the machine would vary the weight of stock delivered per minute. lt is not necessary, however, to operate the machine in making the mixture at the same speed as it was operated to produce the dataV p for a constant. x

Therefore to obtain a 2,000-pound batch,

figures which are to be given to the picker house foreman are:

N001 800 pounds Noils 400 Shoddy 200 Cotton 600 and feed them into the hopper in sections of this width:

lVool 5.98 feet Noils i 2.59 7 Shoddy 1.01 Cotton 2.42

lf the hoppers of this machine are kept constantly replenished with the stock, the mixture will be uniform and all of the ingredients will be used up together.

The output of the machine will vary with the speed with which it is driven, but in any case it will be limited only by the capacity of the picker.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

l. Fiber mixing means comprising a main fiber receptacle, means to feed forward fiber from said receptacle, and means to divide the surface of said feeding means proportional to the percentages of the several ingredients to be supplied to said receptacle.

2. Fiber mixing means comprising a main ber receptacle, means to feed forward fiber from said receptacle, a series of indicating means graduated relative to the feeding efficiency of said feeding means, and means to be utilized in coperation with said indicating means to divide the effective feeding of said feeding means proportional to the percentages of the several ingredients to be supplied to such receptacle.

3. Fiber mixing means comprising a main fiber receptacle, means to feed forward fiber from said receptacle, a series of indicating engaging means graduated relative to the feeding efficiency of said feeding means, and a series of members having devices to engage said engaging means, said members ex- Y a fiber feeding apron,

tending to positions to divide the surface of said feeding means proportional to the intende percentages of the several ingredients to be mixed.

4. Fiber mixing means comprising a fiber receptacle having a series of graduated indicating slots extending throughout its effective length, a ber feeding apron operating in said receptacle parallel to said series of slots, and a series of partition members having devices to engage said indicating slots, said partition members extending approximately to said apron to divide its surface in width corresponding to the percentages indicated by said slots.

5. Fiber mixing means comprising a mixing picker, a feed apron delivering to said picker, a fiber feeding means delivering to said feed apron, and means to divide the effective feeding surface of said feeding means proportional to the percentages of the several ingredients to be supplied to said picker, said dividing means having a series of graduated indicators to facilitate adjustment.

6. Fiber mixing means comprising' a mixing picker, a feed apron delivering to said picker, a fiber feeding means having a fiber feeding apron, a fiber stripper therefor, and means to receive fiber from said Stripper and forcibly deliver said fiber to said first mentioned feed apron by movement in a transverse direction relative to the latter.

7. Fiber mixing means comprising a pair of fiber feeding machines, a fiber feed apron to receive from both of said machines, and a mixing picker to which said apron delivers, each of said feeding machines having a stripper operating to strip fiber from said apron, and a roll having means to receive fiber from said stripper and to forcibly deliver said fiber to said fiber feed apron, said fiber feeding apron having means cooperating therewith to divide its effective feeding -surface into several dimensions.

JAMES A. BUTLER. 

